Sunday, May 11, 2008

Is Walking a Hobby?

Wohoo! Made it to Camp 1 by just a hair. I don't think that I'll get may steps in this week unless I really make an extra special effort. I did go for a nice bike ride this afternoon. I wish there was some way to characterize riding as exercise, but it is still a great hobby for me. I don't think I've had a hobby in years. Before moving to Alaska, I rode my bicycle (lots), went hiking and backpacking, was learning how to fly, quite a bit of ski touring, and doing a lot of traveling. After moving to Alaska, I went on one bike trip, two backpacking trips and that's about it. What's with that? People come to Alaska for adventure and I have to admit that that was the attraction for me but since I moved here, nada. Initially, I was a very broke graduate student so didn't do much of anything except study (well, didn't do enough of that). Then no time (or money) and work and career seemed to take a lot of my time and energy.

Can walking be considered a hobby? It consumes a lot of my time, I enjoy it, and I make it a priority. Unfortunately, it is something I have to do. I HAVE to lose the weight, I HAVE to get some aerobic exercise, but I probably don't HAVE to walk 10 miles per day. That goal was somewhat arbitrary. I've modified my normal routine so that on most days I get my 10k step minimum without even much thought. The 10 mile goal (23k steps) remains a challenge. So maybe it is a hobby.